Timewar Dilemma
by everydaytimelord
Summary: A companion asks the Doctor about the Timewar. The Doctor is less than thrilled to bring up this part of his past. (made for a philosophy paper and in celebration of the 50th anniversary. They seriously need to address this issue)


"Ah ha! Here we are. And there you can see the wonderful moons, Dra and idra. Dra is the home to an ancient civilization, the Dranians. They have been around for several millennia, and have helped push along the idea of inhabiting foreign planets and ping-pong."

"Speaking of ancient civilizations, Doctor, didn't you come from one yourself? Now that I think about it, you never talk about them."

"And it's only a good thing that I don't. Now, where were we? Yes, ping-pong-"

"No, Doctor. You cannot avoid the subject again. Why will you never tell me about your own people?"

"Because they are in the past and that is where they need to stay."

"They're not, though, because you are one of them. Also, I was reading in the library the other day-"

"Oh, that's no good."

"-and I found a book that mentioned this mysterious war eons ago. It said something about Timelords, and myth, and somehow I have reasons to believe that they are not a myth, right Doctor, the Timelord? And besides that, it said that they had a war against these ancient enemies of theirs, the Daleks. You know, your greatest enemy? It all started to come together. You were in this war, weren't you? But that still does not explain why you won't talk about-"

"Because I killed them."

"I'm sorry?"

"You wanted to know. Fine. I'll tell you. It's every single human I pick up, isn't it? They all just like to shove their noses in places they do not belong."

"Well, at least you're finally opening up."

"Yes, well, maybe you won't want to know me after you hear this one."

"Try me."

"It was, what, from this point in the universe, two millennia ago that a war broke out between the Timelords and the Daleks. It was a nasty war; killed many of my friends and wiped out any civilization that was in its path. The two sides were equal; neither could get the upper hand over the other. This went on for so long. The Timelords started to get desperate. They began using drastic measures, but that mostly hurt others than it helped. The only thing we succeeded in was dragging more innocent people into our mess. So, one day, I was offered the opportunity by one of my old professors to end this. They gave me a time lock. It may sound harmless, but anything stuck inside this nasty bomb will be wiped from time and space; they will stop existing. So, I did the only sensible thing at the time; I set it off."

"How did you escape?"

"My trusty TARDIS got me out safe and sound before the initial explosion. Most of the time I wish she hadn't."

"Do you regret what you did?"

"That's not a very good question."

"It's a great question. What you told me sounds a lot like this situation where you have a choice between saving one person, or sacrificing that person to save others."

"Oh, are you a philosopher now?"

"I did take one class in college, thank you."

"Fine. Then we'll do it your way. No, I do not regret my decision."

"And why not? You said that you had friend there, but you chose to essentially kill them."

"I had a family there too. It was not an easy decision, you know. I have to live with knowing that have killed so many."

"But why couldn't the Timelords win against the Daleks anyhow?"

"Daleks. Merciless, emotionless killing machines. Designed for one purpose; to kill anything that is not a Dalek. Imagine a bunch of salt and pepper shakers with little bumps all over them yelling "EXTERMINATE" at anything that moves any there you have it."

"But why are they your greatest enemy?"

"Now that is a long story that I do not wish to go into right now because you have me going on all of this other nostalgia. But, they were built by this madman, Davros, to kill another race that was threatening to destroy them. You see, Daleks were originally the Kaleds; peaceful and intelligent beings. But then they were converted for war and nothing good ever comes from war."

"But they won, didn't they?"  
"Yes, they won, and they kept going. They wiped out planet after planet, even went after Earth few times more than what is comfortable."

"But, you say they were living beings at one point; that they had emotions and were peaceful. What makes them so different now? Can't we just try to make them see what they are doing is wrong? They sound like they are still intelligent."

"They are mindless machines that will stop at nothing to convert everything to one of them."

"But have you ever given them a chance Doctor?"

"There is no trying with them! It's either you kill them or they kill you! There is no in between. I had made my decision on that a long time ago."

"But what makes them so different from us? The Timelords, from what I read, were just as bad, if not a whole lot more subtle, at converting and manipulating the universe to their own designs."

"Yes, the Timelords were corrupted, but they were not merciless killing machines."

"You do not seem so sure about this one."

"Because I ran away from them because of their twisted ideals and corrupted nature. They were nothing but a bunch of pompous monkeys playing with a crown that was not theirs to have. They had too much power."

"Then how are Daleks, these merciless killing machines, any different from Timelords, also merciless killing machines?"

"Timelords were not machines. They were people who, beneath their infuriating exterior, still understood what was right and wrong."

"And Daleks cannot tell what is right from what is wrong because they are machines?"

"Yes! They understand what they are doing, and what they do is wrong!"

"But, Doctor, you said that Daleks believes that what they were doing was right. They think that-"

"Daleks do not think."

"-killing every other race will help them. You said they were built for war, and that is what they are doing. They are winning to war that was before them. And it when they came after the Timelords, they simply found an enemy to be trifled with. The Timelords were just as strong as the Daleks, right?"

"You completely missed the point here. I was not-"

"Not what? Defending the Daleks? I am not trying to justify their ways, just trying to see why they are doing what they are doing. They may not have emotions, as you say, but they still think, and I am sure when they were faced with the Timelords they knew what they were going into. And to face off against a race of people as smart as you, they must have had some kind of plan before going in."

"Yes, they had a plan. They are very good at making plans."

"Then what makes them any different from Timelords? Daleks were built from living, thinking creatures. They must still be living, thinking creatures or else they would not be so good at what they do."

"No, but you see, the reason they are so good at war is because they do not think. They were turned into machines to take away what makes people what they are; emotions. Without emotions, people are not people."

"But, does it make it any better to have emotions and still do that same things as the Daleks? I read in the book that both parties did whatever it took to defeat the other. That means that the Timelords were just as merciless and emotionless when trying to defeat the Daleks as the Daleks were with the Timelords."

"You are missing the point again."

"And what point is the human missing this time?"

"I don't like it when you do that. You are missing the major point that the Timelords were well aware of what they were doing and did have emotions when doing it-"

"But, does that make them any better? Doesn't that still put them on the same level as Daleks?"

"No, it does not. Daleks were built for one purpose-"

"For war. Yes, we already went over this. But I want to know what makes the Timelords any better? Why their decisions were any more righteous in cause than those of the Daleks'."

"Maybe I will happily drop the human back off on Earth to argue about their little philosophical ideas and morals to someone who has time to care about these things."

"And better still, you never answered my original question of why you made the decision to destroy both parties."

"Fine. I will explain myself to you, but only to show that you do not understand what is above your level of comprehension. Both sides were equally matched. You follow me?"

"Crystal clear. Continue."

"Right. I was given a choice to stop everything before any more people were caught in the crossfire, because innocent beings were slaughtered if they were in our way. In either side's way. The Timelords were more considerate of the killings than that of the Daleks, though."

"Yes, okay. I didn't ask you to stop. Go ahead."

"When it came down to letting the Timelords and Daleks live or have them continue the war and kill more innocents, I made the ultimate choice to have them stop right then and there."

"This bomb, if it works like a bomb, doesn't everyone in the middle of it get caught in the explosion as well?"

"It was something that could not be fixed. They were going to be slaughtered anyhow by the war."

"But that does not make it right. They could have lived. They could have gone on and invented another awesome game, like the Dranians. Maybe something to do with anti-gravity skateboarding or something like in Back to the Future."

"What does that have to do with our current discussion?"

"Nothing. I was just saying. You say it yourself on a daily basis that every creature deserves the chance to live and prosper. That's why you do what you do. Wait… it all makes sense now. That's why you stick around us humans so much. We resemble the Timelords. You're just using my race to make up for what you couldn't save in your own."

"I have always had a fondness for humans."

"You are a very confusing individual, you know that?"

"Well aware. Now are we done here? I want to show you why they call this planet 'Blue Heaven'. And it has nothing to do with the wonderful sport of ping-pong, although I will be up for a round when we get back to the TARDIS."


End file.
